Decision time: Four main party leaders tell the Daily Star why Brits should vote for them

Decision time: Four main party leaders tell the Daily Star why Brits should vote for them

TOMORROW Britain faces a monumental decision over its future.

Published 6th May 2015

CRUNCH TIME: The closest election in decades will play out on May 7 as the world watches on [GETTY/PA]

So today the Daily Star is offering to help the many undecided voters choose which path they want.

For the past few months the parties have been bombarding you with speeches and facts and figures, desperately trying to sway your vote ahead of tomorrow’s General Election.

But today, the Big Four party leaders have summed it all up – and boiled it down to the nitty-gritty – in a direct appeal to you, the Daily Star readers.

Conservative David Cameron, Labour’s Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg of the Lib Dems and Ukip’s Nigel Farage have made a final bid to tell you why they should have your backing.

Each has delivered a passionate plea for your vote by explaining why they are convinced they are the best step forward for Britain.

Read their comments, make a decision, and please take the time to vote tomorrow...

PROMISE: Nigel Farage believes he and his party can change Britain for the better [PA]

UKIP

Britain is at a crossroads. The sign reads: “More of the same, or real change.”

And tomorrow you have an opportunity which I hope you’ll seize with both hands.

In 1997 Tony Blair’s Labour Party were elected on a promise to change the country for the better.

They failed.

And his successors have continued his ideas, which have led to a massive financial crash and bank bailout, mass immigrat- ion into Britain, and more borrowing than you can shake a stick at.

Can you believe that the Labour Party doubled the national debt from 1997 to 2010, and opened Britain’s borders in 2004, driving the average British worker’s wages down?

Labour was supposed to represent the working families of Britain. Today it does no such thing.

And can you believe that the coalition government doubled the debt again from 2010 to 2015, promising to bring immigration down, when in reality, the number that came to Britain last year alone was 624,000.

The debt we’re passing on to the next generation is now £1.5trillion, and we’re deluding ourselves if we think we can get a grip on immigration without leaving the European Union.

EARTHQUAKE: Mr Farage and his party vowed to shake up the political landscape [PA]

Ordinary people around the country are wondering how they’re going to pay their electricity bills, or how they’re going to put the next meal on the table for them and their families.

And our political classes are only interested in what their big corporate backers tell them to do: More migrants because it means cheap labour. More debt because it means bailouts and subsidies.

Ukip wants real change in our politics, and we’ve chased it with passion for 21 years now.

We’ve been called all sorts of names but we’re still here, fighting for a positive difference for you.

Now, we need your support.

We’re the party of unashamed patriotism.

We’re proud to be a non-racist, non-sectarian party.

And we’re proud to have delivered the only manifesto that has been independently checked, and praised by health experts, housing experts, and armed forces experts.

If you vote Ukip at this election and don’t like what we do in Parliament for you, then you can always choose someone else next time.

But who knows when you’ll next get the opportunity to make this big an impact on British politics?

Your vote matters, and I urge you to use it for real change, for real people. I believe that together, we can do some great things for Britain.

DOUBLE ACT: Can David Cameron and Boris Johnson see the Tories back into power? [AFP/GETTY]

Where your pension goes up by a fair amount each year and your free bus pass, TV licence and Winter Fuel Allowance remain intact. Where our precious NHS is protected.

Where you get your say on Europe.

In other words, where you have security at every stage of your life.

That’s what I hope Daily Star readers will choose – by voting Conservative.

My number one aim remains the same: To make life better for the people of this country.

That’s why the Conservative party is the true party of working people – one that wants to help those who work hard, to make this a country where if you put in, you get out.

We’re the Conservatives – the tax-cutting, childcare-helping, jobs-backing party of working people.

For a start we’ll continue doing the most important thing: Getting people into work. In the past five years we’ve created more new jobs than the rest of the EU put together.

LAST SHOT: Mr Cameron has said that if elected it will be his last term as Prime Minister [GETTY]

In the next, we’ll go further – a job for everyone who wants one.

We’ve already cut income taxes for over 26million people and taken three million more out of paying income tax.

In the next Parliament we’ll increase the amount you can earn before paying income tax to £12,500.

We’ve introduced 15 hours’ free childcare for three- and four-year-olds; we’ll double that to 30 hours – and make the rest of childcare tax-free.

If we were to end up with Labour sharing power with the SNP, first off Star readers would take the hit from Labour’s higher taxes, borrowing and debt.

Remember the note they left? “There is no money.” Remember their reckless spending – the jobs lost, the businesses bust, the country nearly bankrupted?

What’s worse is that this time they’d be propped up by spending maniacs the SNP.

With Nicola Sturgeon approving every vote and Alex Salmond writing the Budget, do you think families in England would get a look-in?

And there is only one way to stop that nightmare alliance: By voting Conservative.

We will deliver an in-out referendum on the EU by the end of 2017. A vote for anyone else, even Ukip, would lead to a Miliband/SNP Government that would mean no referendum.

I believe we’ll negotiate a better deal for Britain, and that’s what I’ll be pushing for people to choose. But the point is you should be able to choose.

We’ve started to get a grip on immigration but we need to go further.

Under Labour, the number of migrants coming here surged. Under us, immigration from outside the EU has been cut.

But with our economy taking off as Europe’s stagnates, it’s been more difficult to cut immigration from inside the EU.

I get how much that matters to Star readers. So getting the annual figure to the tens of thousands remains my ambition.

Here’s my plan to get there: No benefits for EU jobseekers; migrants leaving if they don’t get a job after six months; no in-work benefits until they’ve been here four years; no child benefit for EU migrants’ families living abroad.

I love a pint and I love our pubs. The Conservatives have done two huge things to help them.

We reduced beer duty and scrapped Labour’s duty escalator – meaning a pint is 9p cheaper than it would have been.

We’ll carry on being the most pro-pub government ever.

And everyone can raise a glass to that.

NEW LEADER, OLD LABOUR: Ed Miliband believes it is his time to shine [PA]

LABOUR

Britain faces a clear choice tomorrow: A government that puts working people first, or one that only works for the privileged few.

For five years the Tories have made working people £1,600 worse off. They have allowed energy bills to rise by an average of £300, and millions of people are stuck in low-paid, insecure jobs.

This is the first Parliament since the 1920s where living standards have got worse.

Life for the next generation is getting harder: Tuition fees have trebled and apprenticeships for young people are falling.

And as everyone knows – apart from David Cameron and the Tories – the NHS is sliding into crisis.

Waiting lists for treatment are at their highest for six years, one in four people now wait a week or more to see a GP and in the past year over a million people waited longer than four hours in A&E.

David Cameron has broken his promises on the NHS.

He has closed hospitals he said he would keep open and he has wasted £3billion on a top-down re-organisation – something that he insisted before the last election would never happen.

He is promising to protect the NHS with nothing more than an IOU but his extreme spending plans are putting the NHS at risk. You can help me put a stop to all that.

We have a real plan with real money to stop the NHS sliding backwards: A £2.5billion Time to Care Fund which will pay for 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs and 3,000 more midwives who will give patients the time and attention they need.

BATTLE: Mr Miliband has been heavily criticised by his critics during the election campaign [PA]

We will guarantee a GP appointment within 48 hours and a maximum one-week wait for cancer tests.

Labour’s plan will put the values that matter back at the heart of the NHS: Care, compassion and co-operation, not privatisation, fragmentation and competition.

And we can do this while balancing the books and bringing down the deficit every year because Labour has learned the lessons of the past.

We will also act on immigration so that people who come here won’t be able to claim benefits for at least two years.

And it will be illegal for employers to undercut wages by exploiting overseas workers.

There is so much that needs to change in our country.

You only have the chance to vote once every five years.

Don’t waste this opportunity to give your family and our country a better future with better living standards, get real investment in the NHS and raise hopes for the next generation with decent schools and training.

Tomorrow, put your family and your NHS first. Vote Labour.

ACE IN THE PACK: Nick Clegg and his Lib Dems are expecting an election day hammering [GETTY]

LIB DEM

This is the closest election in living memory. But one thing is clear – David Cameron and Ed Miliband won’t win this General Election outright.

That means that someone else will hold the balance of power on Friday and have a huge influence over the direction of our country.

It could be Alex Salmond. It could be Nigel Farage.

Or it could be me and the Liberal Democrats.

In government again, Liberal Democrats will put the national interest first and safeguard the values of stability, decency and unity.

We will finish the job of deficit reduction, in full and on time, but in a balanced and sensible way, making sure the wealthiest pay their fair share.

We will go further on cutting tax for those on low and middle incomes, raising the tax-free threshold to £12,500 by the end of the next parliament.

We will guarantee an extra £8billion for the NHS and ensure equal status for mental health.

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN: The Lib Dems could be key in any potential coalition talks [PA]